The developers who want to build a high-end, single-family community along Bonita Beach Road are exploring their options after Bonita Springs City Council turned down their request for comp plan changes.
Seagate Development Group sought to build Revana Lakes on 204 acres on the north side of Bonita Beach Road across from Palmira Country Club and Village Walk. Plans called for 299 units, most of them single-family homes, and a nearly 40,000–square-foot commercial center.
“While we are disappointed in the outcome of last night’s meeting, we are exploring our options for the Revana Lakes project,” Seagate CEO Matt Price said.
Council voted 5-1 Aug. 7, denying Seagate’s request to change the land use from Density/Groundwater Recharge to Urban Fringe Community District. The change was needed to allow for residential and limited community use.
The DR/GR category allows 14 homes to be built on the site. The change would have allowed up to 552 units, but Seagate’s plan calls for 299.
The site doesn’t fit the criteria for DR/GR land, Alexis Crespo, vice president of planning for RVi, planning consultant on the project, told council members.
“The site is not functioning as DR/GR from an environmental standpoint, a hydrological standpoint,” she said.
The site is near an arterial roadway and has available infrastructure, she said.
Revana Lakes also received an environmental resource permit from South Florida Water Management.
The site fits better in the Urban Fringe Community District, Crespo said.
Council members were worried about how changing the land use could set a precedent for other developers in the DR/GR.
Other DR/GR designated land to the north are not similar because they are more rural and don’t have roads or infrastructure, Crispo said.
City staff did not make a recommendation in its report. Senior Planner Mike Fiigon said it was up to Council because changing the designation was a major policy decision.
In May, the city’s planning board recommended denial.
Council member Laura Carr was the lone dissenter at the Aug. 7 meeting. She said it was common sense to approve it. The project would improve the property.
Seagate wouldn’t say what options it is looking at. The company purchased the property in 2020. About 114 acres were annexed into Bonita Springs in 2008 and 90 remain in Lee County. Seagate was asking for the 90 acres to be annexed into Bonita.
